Indie Games On-Demand?

There is a new subscription-based video game service launching soon. The service is called “Jump“, and will be offering an initial library of 60-100 for a flat fee of $9.99 per month. The service is currently in closed beta until July 24th, but once it launches it will offer users unlimited ad-free access to a “highly curated” library which will have about 10 games added to it each month. For those interested in trying it, Jump will be available on Windows, Mac, Linux, HTC Vive, and Oculus Rift.

Unlike other attempts at video game on-demand services like OnLive, the service Jump is offering appears to be quite robust and well-planned. It will offer most if not all of the standard features of a Netflix-style service, including a way to easily browse games based on genre, date added, and those that have been recently updated. It’ll also feature leaderboards, cloud saves, matchmaking, and multiplayer. All of these features will be handled by another third-party service called PlayFab, which will help keep user data consistent across different devices. Finally, Jump will be able to run games directly through its local client rather than having to fully download and install games on the user’s hard drive. This is due to a new web-based technology that will enable it to run games while only pulling the assets it needs.

We’ve not yet seen a Netflix-style gaming service that was able to succeed, but it looks like Jump might just be the one that’ll make it happen. Personally, I hope it does. It would be incredibly convenient to have a low-cost service like this around, especially one focused on indie games. At about $10 a month, it would be a great way to step into a realm of gaming that is often hard to follow due to the sheer amount of games getting released. For those not already knowledgeable about the indie game scene, it could be a great first step!